Essential Gets $300M Funding, Availability To Be Detailed Next Week

Android co-founder Andy Rubin's Essential Products has confirmed to have received funding worth $300M. Essential hasn't detailed about all the investors but has confirmed to have received investments from Tencent and Amazon's Alexa Fund. The funding is said to have been carried out in June. Essential has also confirmed Amazon and Best Buy as it's partners to sell the smartphone in the US, with Sprint already signed up as it's launch exclusive carrier partner. The Essential PH-1 will be sold in Canada via carrier Telus.

At the time of announcing the Essential Phone (PH-1) in May, Andy Rubin had stated that the smartphone would be available in the market within thirty days (that is by the end of June). It's been more than two months since the Phone's announcement and the Phone's release is still not even in the hindsight. The hype around PH-1's release has only been surmounting. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Essential's President Niccolo De Masi said that the PH-1's release is still "a few weeks away," and an exact release date will be announced within a week. Andy Rubin stated the same in his tweet.

With the Galaxy Note 8 to be unveiled on August 23 and the iPhone 8 around the corner, the PH-1 is bound to face stiff competition. Essential will therefore have to do something special to stand out amongst its competition. Essential's commitment to frequent security updates along with different accessories to make the Phone "cord-free, future-proof, and always up-to-date" might help the company in attracting some consumer attention.

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.